


Broken Seashells

by ellagrayson, tobiramasenju



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, M/M, Mermaids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:23:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8667580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellagrayson/pseuds/ellagrayson, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobiramasenju/pseuds/tobiramasenju
Summary: A Naruto AU where Minato is a pirate on a ship with some other familiar faces from the series. He enjoys a nice day on the pirate ship when a mermaid, Tobirama, is caught and brought onto the ship.





	1. Calm Before the Storm

 

It had been about 2 months that Minato had been at sea for. 2 months and he still hadn’t gotten over how majestic the sea was.

  
The 24 year old stared at the waves passing by as he held onto the ratlines. His blonde hair was whipping around as the wind sped the ship along. Closing his eyes, he felt like he was flying. Yes, this was the reason he decided to live a life at sea. And no better way to do it than with a bunch of pirates, right?

Honestly, Minato had no clue how he had gotten talked into joining the crew. They had all been at a pub and he had mused about how he wanted to travel the world and all that cliche stuff. The men laughed, but were taken by his youthful optimism and his strong work ethic. They offered him a place on the ship, mentioning how they went wherever they wanted and did whatever they pleased while making some money on the side. Minato was sold.

And so, here he was, a pirate on a ship with a bunch of men who may or may not have scurvy.

He was still daydreaming when he was almost nudged overboard by one of the other men. Minato’s eyes snapped open and he gave a sheepish grin as he let go of the ratline and faced the other man. “Ah, sorry about that,” Minato chuckled and gave a smile. His smile was one no one could resist. The other man shifted uncomfortably, “It’s alright, kid, just.. next time try to pay more attention and to doze off like that, eh?” Minato nodded and watched the man go.

When he was gone, Minato leaned over the side of the ship, staring into the depths of the water again. Maybe the one reason he was so fascinated by the sea was because of how mysterious it was. There had to be so much going on below the surface that they couldn’t even imagine.

Once again, he got caught as his mind wandered to the bottom of the ocean. This time, though, one of the crew pat him on his back to get his attention. Minato blinked and looked up from the waves and to the silver haired young man. Kakashi was only two years younger than him, but very serious. He always wore a piece of cloth over his mouth. He was the only one thus far that Minato had made a real connection with. Mainly because Minato had an instinct to want to take people younger than him under his wing, so to speak, even if Kakashi was taking more care of him than the other way around.

“The captain wants you up in the crow’s nest,” Kakashi said as he pointed up to it.

Minato squinted up, shading his eyes to see it better before looking back to Kakashi with confusion, “But you have the best eyes on the ship! Why me?” If Minato was being honest, he rather stay closer to the waves than way up there. And he knew he would probably get distracted even easier up top away from the others.

Kakashi just sighed, “He needs me to attend to… other matters and anyone can stand as a look out,” He placed a hand on his shoulder for reassurance, “All you need to do is look out for other ships and land. Simple.” With that he tossed him a telescope and took off down to the stairs that led below the ship and to the captain’s quarters.

Minato shrugged and made his way to the mast, climbing up to the crow’s nest above.

When he got up there, the wind was making the flag flap around with much force. Thankfully he wasn’t afraid of heights and actually found it more enjoyable than he had thought from up there. He was alone with his thoughts and got to see how the sun glinted off the ocean. He leaned himself up against the mast and sighed. Truly a life at sea was surely the life for him. He closed his eyes and let the wind whip around him for a couple of minutes before someone yelled up at him, jolting him out of his relaxation.

“Hey! Can you check what’s over there?!”

Minato didn’t recognize the man making the request below, but he followed where he was pointing. He grabbed the telescope from his belt and looked through the peephole. What he saw confused him. There was a rock, he knew that, but what was on top of it was a mystery.

The crew man below yelled up to him again, “MINATO! What is it?!”

Scratching the back of his head, Minato sheepishly looked down, “Well it’s white and has a tail….! That’s all I can make out!” Was it a seal possibly?

All he got in response were grunts and yelling to steer the ship closer, but to move slowly.

Minato felt the ship shift and he kept his telescope placed on the figure of the rock. Was it a seal? It was kind of pale and… was it’s tail a blue color? Minato took the telescope away from his face and blinked, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Maybe all of his daydreaming and fantasies were catching up to him and messing with his perception of reality.

Opening his eyes again, he pressed his eye to it again. This time, now that the ship had gotten closer, there was no denying what it could be. Was he going crazy.

The crew below were looking for themselves down below over the edge of the ship. There was an uproar of confusion and excitement, so Minato decided to call down below, even thought he was also uncertain of what this… creature was.

“Er… It looks like… Well.. It looks like a mermaid!”

How the crew responded was not how Minato would expected. Instead of them being confused and telling him he was crazy, someone rush to the captain’s quarters while the other mean scrambled to get a net.

Minato stayed where he was and kept an eye on the figure on the rock. He wasn’t sure if it was dead or alive… Was it really a mermaid?

Before too long, the ship was in close proximity to the lone rock. By that point it was clear that it was a mermaid and a male one at that. Minato was in awe. He had his telescope on the mermaid the entire time while chaos ensued below. Though he felt cliche for thinking this, he couldn’t deny the fact that the mermaid was… well… attractive. Minato was captivated by him and it was hard for him to pull his attention away from him. That was until he noticed the crew putting the dinghy into the water and getting into it.

By now, the crew was silent as the ones chosen lowered themselves into the small boat and quietly, slowly rowed themselves to the shore. Minato held his breath as he watched them slowly approach the mystical creature and rather violently throw the netting over him. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but there was a lot of commotion and yelling. The mermaid tried to escape, but got himself tangled more into the netting, making him helpless. The pale mermaid was put into the dinghy and taken back to the ship as the crew laughs and congratulated themselves on their latest catch.

Minato, on the other hand, didn’t feel as elated as the rest of them. His heart went out for the mermaid. He didn’t know a lot about the species but he could imagine they were similar to humans. This mermaid certainly looked human.

Rushing down from his post, Minato went to go get a better look at the mermaid. He was still struggling from within the net despite how tangled he was and he was speaking in a different language as he tried to claw at the men who dared to get close to him. They all wanted to touch the mermaid as seeing one, let alone catching one, was a rare sight. Minato saw that some of the crew had what looked like claw marks and even bite marks on them.

He approached the mermaid carefully, trying to listen to what he was saying. Minato didn’t recognize what the mermaid was saying, but that was because he hadn’t heard Chinese in awhile. For some reason Minato was thinking mermaids had some kind of… mermaid speak or something. Fish speak? He didn’t know, but what he did know was this mermaid was definitely speaking Chinese, specifically Mandarin, which was what Minato thankfully knew.

Minato didn’t say anything as he tried to listen closely to what the mermaid was saying while keeping a safe distance. Everyone was yelling over one another and wanting to get a good look at him as the mermaid thrashed about and even hissed a little. Minato managed to get to the front of the group huddled around the netted mermaid. He tried to focus as the mermaid’s voice got lost in the commotion.

“Hey! Let me go! This net is digging into me.” Was what the mermaid seemed to be saying as he struggled against the net more, trying to rip it off of himself but with no luck.

Without a second thought,, and forgetting the claw and bite marks on the other crew mates, Minato knelt down beside him, trying to place a hand on the wet creature, but failing as the mermaid recoiled from him, shocked that this man had even knelt beside him so calmly. Nevertheless, in his rusty Chinese Minato spoke to the mermaid as best as he could,

“If you stop moving, the net won’t irritate you as much.” He tried to say in a soft, calming voice and with a warm smile.

At the blonde man’s voice, the pale mermaid stopped moving and looked at the bright man in front of him, wondering if he should leave claw marks on him like he had the others or listen to him. The main reason he pondered the latter was because of having the initial shock of someone speaking Chinese. He had thought this entire ship was a bunch of surly, rude imbeciles. The language they spoke sounded like Japanese, but Tobirama knew none of it. His brother had told him he should learn it when he was younger, but he was stubborn and foolish so he hadn’t. Obviously he had regretted it now.

Nevertheless, there was a sense of relief that washed over Tobirama as soon as he heard someone speaking his native language. He was surprised he could hear it through all the idiotic chatter coming from the others. It was like a light in the darkness. He locked eyes with Minato, staring hard into those blue eyes. Damn he was pretty… Why was someone like him on a ship like this? Ah who cared. All that mattered was that this blonde man was most likely his only way out of this mess.

Tobirama stopped moving against the net at Minato’s suggestion. When he did, Minato smiled more. He was about to say something else when the captain’s booming voice came from behind, making the huddled group part like the red sea to let him through and Tobirama tensed up again. Minato stood up and turned around to face Captain Killer Bee. He was a tall man, but kinder than he looked, despite his odd diction. He looked down at Minato and raised an eyebrow, looking past him to the displeased mermaid in the netting before laughing heartily.

“I say, I say. What do we have here? It talks in strange tongues and looks like it smelled something awful. Doesn’t this mermaid know that it is he who smells awful and not us?” He laughed again as he said this, and the crew joined in nervously, even though they didn’t fully understand his train of thought.

Minato laughed along with the rest of them, but a little less enthusiastically as he looked back to the mermaid. He looked terrified more than anything and Minato knew what he had to do.

Building up the courage, he turned back to face Captain Killer Bee, “It isn’t as strange of a tongue as you think Captain,”

Killer Bee stopped laughing and looked seriously down at Minato, making the blonde tense up ever so slightly, but he continued,

“He is speaking Mandarian. I can speak to him. I was taught Chinese when I was a boy.”

Putting his hands on his hips, Killer Bee looked down at Minato with a straight face. He gestured to the netted mermaid, “Well then Sunray, speak to him. Ask him if he knows where any treasure might be.”

Treasure? Minato was a bit taken aback. Did pirates actually hunt for that stuff? He thought it might of just been a stereotype but…. he guessed they had to make money somehow.

He nodded and turned back to the mermaid, kneeling down now. The entire crew went silent as Minato spoke.

With a gentle, warm smile on his face, he gave a small wave to the mermaid under the net, trying not to worry about getting attacked, “Hello. My name is Minato. I’m sorry you were caught during a nap… I am sure you’re very confused and,” He looked down at the mermaid’s bleeding knuckles before meeting his eyes again, “In pain. I can take care of you and let you go if you choose, but,” He sighed, feeling embarrassed for even asking such a silly question, “If you can tell me where any… treasure might be… Let me know. My friends and I need a little money for when we get to land.”

Once he had finished, Minato hoped he hadn’t upset the mermaid to warrant him to claw him or he didn’t come off as foolish with his request for treasure.

Tobirama didn’t like the big, loud man who seemed to be the Captain of this ship and he had wish he could give him a claw mark or two. He gave off the air of arrogance and Tobirama hated that. He also hated that he was in this net still as people surrounded him and laughed, not scared of him at all. The only one who wasn’t annoying him was the blonde man. He was… warm and soft. Not rigid and cold like the others. He trained his eyes on his back, to study him as he talked to the bigger man, wondering if he should trust him or not.

Coming face-to-face with him, Tobirama looked into his blue eyes and almost felt his heart stop. They were beautiful.. He was beautiful.

No! He had to shake this feeling. This man, no matter how handsome he was, was a pirate. He was on a pirate ship, after all.

But, once he spoke to him, all soft and smooth, Tobirama forgot that again and got lost in his words. Minato…

He was jutted back to reality once again when the man mentioned… treasure? Tobirama wanted to roll his eyes at the question. It was a ridiculous thing to ask. Just because he was a mermaid and had been to the depths of the ocean, he was supposed to know where treasure might be?

Still, he couldn’t reply with a sarcastic remark or ignore the blonde despite that being his normal reaction to people. Minato had shocked Tobirama with his kindness and stunning looks. Therefore, Tobirama couldn’t bring himself to speak poorly to him. So, instead, Tobirama would humor him, hoping that would also mean good things for himself in the long run and could be released back to the ocean.

“Er.. Well… Treasure isn’t as common as you think. So, no. I haven’t seen any.”

Minato smiled, “That’s alright! Thanks for being honest.” He then turned back to the towering Captain Killer Bee who had been standing over him the entire time, waiting for a response. He looked back to Tobirama,

“Just give me one moment I just need to tell the Captain… Sorry.” With that he stood up and turned to the Captain again.

“He doesn’t seem to know of any treasure.”

Captain Killer Bee narrowed his eyes, “You’re certain of that? This mermaid isn’t trying to mislead us and make fools of us?”

“I don’t believe so, Captain,” Minato answered truthfully. He didn’t know the mermaid well at all, but what he could tell was that he had not been lying. The mermaid had not taken his eyes off of his own when they spoke.

The Captain took awhile to answer. He looked at the mermaid in the net again and thought for a moment, tapping his finger on his chin before giving a loud “hrmph” to signify he had made a decision.

“Well as far as I know, mermaids go for a pretty penny on the black market. Why I say why don’t we keep this mermaid as our captive and try to find his friends so we can make multiple pretty pennies! Eh eh? Crew what say you?”

The crew responded with uproarious cheering while a suddenly startled Tobirama began to squirm underneath the net again trying to fend off the crew who had started to surround him. He started with whipping himself violently around again, hissing and trying to dig his nails into those around him. He narrowed his eyes at Minato, he shouldn’t have trusted him and knew he would get him back.

Minato, on the other hand, felt like he had just been punched in the gut. He knew nothing about this mermaid. Not his name or where he had come from, but he felt deeply connected to him. He was just a terrified creature that had been taken captive by people who did not speak his language. Minato felt he needed to protect him in some way…. But now he wasn’t sure if that might be possible.

The boisterous Captain spoke once more, “Get him down into the cellar boys! And,” He turned to a pale Minato, “You! Go take care of him and try to figure out where his friends might be. Mermaids travel in schools you know! Haha!” And with that he turned around and proudly strutted to his quarters again, leaving a terrified Tobirama, failing to fend off the crew, and a disheartened Minato behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> art by senjutobirama.


	2. Sharp Knives and Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madara enters for interrogation.

Tobirama felt sick. He had never imagined that he, a mermaid, could get seasick. He lived in the sea for fucks sake! But, nevertheless, he was sick. It probably had to do with the rocking of the ship.

The mermaid had paled considerably after being down in the ship’s cellar with the blonde man and another brunette man to make sure he didn’t escape. Which, was idiotic. He was literally a fish out of water! He had a fucking tail! He couldn’t just get up and walk away… And, on top of that, they even had the audacity to tie him up! He had struggled against them, but all it had brought him was chaffed skin. It all angered him and they had all began to keep their distance from him after trying to bite them and thrash around.

But, now, due to the seasickness, Tobirama had calmed down a bit. He felt nauseous, but wouldn’t allow himself to throw up. He didn’t want these imbeciles to see any weakness he might have and take advantage of it. Especially Minato. The pale mermaid eyed the man who sat across from him, twiddling his thumbs nervously and glancing over at Tobirama every so often. Every time they made eye contact, Tobirama turned his head away and upturned his nose, much to Minato’s disappointment.

Ever since they had been brought down into the cellar, Minato had been worried about the mermaid. He still didn’t even know his name and yet he seemed to be displeased with him. Minato had tried in the last hour and a half to try and talk to the mermaid. He started with lighthearted chatter about the weather, but it didn’t work. The pale mermaid stayed silent.

Crestfallen, Minato had given up. He now sat in silence, stealing glances at him and also halfheartedly talking to his crew mate, Yamato. Yamato was a pretty stoic, thoughtful, and friendly guy. Minato appreciated his presence, since he knew him just as well we he did Kakashi. The two men saw a lot of each other and Minato usually joined them for meals and the like. Having a familiar presence in the room lessened the tension… but only by a small amount.

Breaking the silence, and tearing Minato’s attention away from the mermaid, Yamato spoke as a question that had been bothering him arose,

“Hey if Captain said mermaids travel in schools, why wasn’t this one?”

Minato looked up at Yamato, who was standing near the cellar door while Minato remained sitting. The blonde shrugged, trying to avoid looking back over at the mermaid,

“Maybe he just got separated?” That seemed like the only answer, but Minato wasn’t sure. He had been dying to ask the mermaid a similar question, but he could tell by the creatures body language that he wasn’t going to be opening up to him anytime soon…

Suddenly there was a large bang. The door leading down the cellar opened and closed while two dark figures came in.

Yamato stepped back to let them through while Minato squinted up at them. The two were the first mate, Obito, and someone Minato still wasn’t sure on what he did on the ship. His name was Madara. He was tall and his hair was black, wild, and coarse. Obito, on the other hand, paled in comparison. Obito was obviously younger than Madara and he had short, spiky black hair and was much leaner than Madara, who was a bit more built and much more intimidating.

Madara narrowed his dark eyes at the mermaid before snapping his head to look at Minato.

“You’re the one who can understand this… thing’s language, correct?”

Minato felt himself clam up a little, but he managed a small smile and nodded, deciding to leave out that the mermaid was simply speaking Mandarin, “That’s correct… Is there something you want me to ask him?”

Madara glared before looking to Yamato and Obito, “Get out. Both of you. The Captain wants me to get some information and the two of you are not needed here.”

Yamato just nodded, giving a last glance as Minato before walking out, while Obito opened his mouth in protest, but thought better of it.

“I’ll just wait outside.” Was all the boy said before he left behind Yamato.

Once the two were gone, Madara looked back at Minato, his eyes as threatening and fiery as ever,

“Do you know its name?”

Minato shook his head, “No he didn’t tell me.”

“Tch. Useless. I told Captain Killer Bee that a translator would do no good, but that…” Madara bit his tongue, “Hmph. There is only one universal language and I intend to find out as much as I can through it.” He ended the sentence with a dark, twisted smile that unsettled Minato and made Tobirama squirm.

Getting up the courage to speak once again, Minato stood up, “Well if you find a translator to be so ‘useless’ I should just leave then, right?”

He said this but, in reality, Minato didn’t want to leave the mermaid alone with this man.

Madara’s eyes shot from Tobirama to Minato once the blonde stood up to question him. He turned around and practically loomed over Minato.

Snarling he responded, “No. You stay here. You didn’t listen to me. The Captain wants you here.”

Minato didn’t really believe that Madara would keep him here on Captain Killer Bee’s command, which made him uneasy. Nevertheless, he obeyed. Madara was standing in between him and the door. He sat back down hesitantly while Tobirama laid on the floor, watching and feeling the tension, but not understanding what they were saying.

How frustrating. Tobirama huffed, forgetting for the moment the position he was currently in. He felt more irritated now at being ignored and having what looked like the blonde, Minato, trying to leave. He shouldn’t have let himself to trust a human so easily.

Soon enough, his thoughts were turned away from Minato, who was sitting close to him, looking at him with sad eyes, and back to the dark figure in the room.

The man’s dark eyes flicked back to Tobirama, making the mermaid try to moe back from the man as he stepped closer to loom over the vulnerable Tobirama. He felt an overwhelming heat emitting off of the wild haired man that made Tobi all the more uncomfortable. Feeling stuck and slightly panicked, he looked to Minato, trying to gauge what was going to happen to him. Minato avoided eye contact with him, making Tobirama worry even more about what was going to happen to him.

Madara gave a sickening smile before pulling out a sharp knife. It glinted off the small light that floated down into the cellar. Tobirama tried to move backwards and away from this man, but his room was limited and before he knew it, the man had aggressively reached down and pulled a fistful of Tobirama’s long hair, forcing him to look up at him. Tobirama hissed at him and tried to thrash about against him to make him let go, but it was no use. Madara slammed his knee down onto Tobirama’s stomach,

“Tell the fish that if he doesn’t stop squirming, I’m going to cut his tail off.”

Minato swallowed hard. He had looked back to Tobirama once Madara had pulled his knife out. He had not wanted this to happen but by this point Minato was just as powerless as Tobirama was. He hesitated before translating, making Madara turn his head to face Minato and growled, “Do it!”

Nodding nervously, Minato began to speak in Mandarin again to the mermaid, “I’m sorry this is happening. If you don’t want to get hurt…. please just do what Madara tells you to do. He is going to be asking you questions… Just answer them so you won’t get hurt.”

Madara? Was that the name Minato had said? Tobirama narrowed his eyes back up at the man named Madara. That name sounded familiar… But he couldn’t worry about that right now.

Instead of heeding Minato’s warning, Tobirama spat up in the face of Madara and then gave a small smirk. He couldn’t savor his small act of defiance before Madara reacted right back by grasping Tobirama’s neck with his free hand. The man was gritting his teeth and his eyes seemed like they were on fire from rage.

“Ask it it’s name, Minato. Now.”

His breath caught in his throat and Minato shockingly got his words out, “He wants to know your name.”

Eyes burning with hatred, Tobirama knew there wasn’t too much he could do to defy Madara or Minato even more. He struggled to get the words out with Madara’s hand on his throat, but he managed, “Tob-Tobirama.”

“Alright his name is Tobirama, ok? Madara let him go he can’t speak if you keep on a grip on him like that then he won’t be of much use.”

Madara grunted and took his hand back, but, before he did, he slapped Tobirama across the face hard and quick and then gripped his face in his hand to bring it closer to his. Then Madara spat back into his face, returning the favor from before.

Then he took his hands completely off of the mermaid and straightened up, glaring down at him, the knife still glinting in the light. He took the pointed end and pressed it against his pointer finger, a small amount of blood being drawn. He then took the finger that had his own blood on it and licked it off, never tearing his eyes away from Tobirama.

Tobirama, in response to this odd display, moved away uncomfortably. Minato also felt extremely uncomfortable especially with the odd connection Madara had seemed to already develop with Tobirama.

Speaking up to break the moment, Minato addressed Madara, “Isn’t there something else you wanted to ask, Madara?”

His question came off a bit more snappy than he had intended, but it caught Madara’s attention. He dropped his hand at his side and gripped the knife more firmly again. He took in a sharp breath.

“No. That’s it for now. A name has told me a lot already.” Madara then smirked and turned toward the cellar exit, “Make sure…. Tobirama doesn’t cause anymore trouble.”

Minato watched him leave and once the cellar door opened and closed, he stood up and knelt down closer to Tobirama, hoping he wouldn’t try to bite him.

“Are you okay?” His blue eyes scanned his body for where Madara had hit and gripped him.

Tobirama inched away from him and looked at him with distrust. Still, despite not fully trusting him, he could tell that Minato wasn’t intending on hurting him just yet at least. He ignored the possibility that Minato showing kindness to be just an act for the moment.

“No. I’ve… had worse.”

Minato knew Tobirama was still closed off to him. Not trying to sound disappointed, he tried to force a small smile despite the previous tension that was in the room.

“Well I would offer you some ice to ease the pain on your abdomen or throat, but that’s a little difficult. On a ship, we don’t really have such luxuries.” He forced a laugh, just wanting to make small talk.

“I just want to go to sleep now if that’s fine by you.” He shot back coldly.

“Oh, yeah! Uhh let me ju-“

Before Minato could finish light flooded into the cellar again. This time Kakashi entered, hands in his pockets. He looked cooly at Minato and Tobirama before looking directly at Minato, who stood up.

“Captain Killer Bee wants to speak with you. Yamato will stay to look over the mermaid. Come with me.”

Minato nodded and followed Kakashi out as Tobirama watched them leave and Yamato enter. He still felt sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is chapter 2 lmao. art credit goes to tobiramasenju once again.


	3. A Change in the Tide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A power struggle between Captain Killer Bee and Madara occurs

Entering the Captain’s Quarters always made Minato cough a little bit. It was stuffy and dusty with the smell of sweat and dirt. It always took Minato time to adjust and he even had to squint to try and make out where the Captain was in the room since it was so dark. 

Before he had time to even see where he was, Captain Killer Bee’s loud booming voice made himself known to Minato.

“Ah! I see you’ve made it here without getting clawed up or bitten by the fish.” 

He then moved to his big chair that was well worn from use. Killer Bee put his hands behind his head and feet on the scratched up oak table in front of him,

“Now take a seat, fish talker, and tell me what you’ve found out or… what you will find out.”

Minato sat down on a stool without a second thought. He had never really sat down and had a one-on-one talk with Captain Killer Bee before and he was now realizing the immense presence the Captain had. Although the position he was currently in made him slightly nervous, Minato tried to not show it. He didn’t want to show any type of weakness around the taller, stronger man. Mainly because Minato wanted to stand his ground not just for himself, but for the mermaid that was moping in the bottom of the ship.

Therefore, Minato spoke up, albeit a little confused by Killer Bee seeming to be giving him the role of interrogating Tobirama when, in fact, Madara had already done so.

“Captain, I think you might want to talk to Madara instead. He was the one who was just down there with Tob- Uh, the mermaid. He was asking him questions and making me translate back and forth. I th-“ 

Suddenly Minato was interrupted by the Captain slamming his hand on the table. It made him jump in his seat and even Kakashi raised an eyebrow. 

“Damn that porcupine-haired dumbass!” Killer Bee roared. He then balled his big hand in a fist before taking a deep breath.

After he had composed himself, he looked to Kakashi, “Make sure no one comes close to the door, Kakashi.” 

The white haired pirate nodded and slipped out the door quietly. Killer Bee looked to Minato again and he calmly took in another breath before folding his hands on the table,

“Minato, tell me what Madara did. In full. That dumbass phony has got it coming to him,” He leaned back in his chair, “He has been trying to take this seat from me from the first day he stepped foot on this ship.” Killer Bee chuckled and shook his head, “He won’t get it, let me tell you, but it still ruffles my scales when he goes behind my back like that.” 

Minato simply nodded, not wanting to upset him further. The blonde went on to tell Killer Bee what happened. He could tell that throughout his telling of it that Captain Killer Bee had to restrain himself from acting on his rage. The other man was seething by the time Minato finished. There was a moment of silence between them before Killer Bee stood up from his chair and walked out of his Quarters. Standing up, Minato followed him out, worried on what was going to transpire. 

As he emerged from the Captain’s Quarters, all Minato saw was the back of Captain Killer Bee as the man roared to the crew,

“Madara!!” He yelled, “Where the hell is Madara?!?!” 

The entire ship fell silent and looked at one another. Minato managed to squeeze out from behind Killer Bee just in time to see Obito scurry off. Minato nervously looked around, wanting to be back down in the cellar with a silent Tobirama. That would be much better than this. 

Finally, Madara appeared. He had coolly come up from the lower deck with Obito in tow. He had a smug grin on his face as he walked up to the Captain, only a couple of feet away from him. Everyone else just looked on in anticipation. 

Puffing up, Killer Bee looked down at Madara, “What the hell do you think you’re doing by dragging your phony ass around here like your the captain of this ship?! I’m the one who allowed you to be here. I’m the one in charge. When we brought that fish onto this ship I made it clear to have no one interact with it unless I allowed it. So what do you think you’re doing interrogating it for?”

Keeping his cool demeanor, Madara shrugged, “I’m doing what I want to, Captain,” The last word was laced with sarcasm and disdain, “It’s not like you’re actually going to do anything to that creature anyway. I get results. The crew knows I do what’s best for them while you sit back in your Quarters, collecting dust. They agree that whatever I do to that mutated fish will benefit all of us. We want to get rich, not keep sailing this god forsaken sea forever.”

Around the two men, the crew started to murmur and nod their heads, shooting glances at Killer Bee. Minato shifted nervously. He was still new to the crew and was now beginning to realize the politics that went on even in the middle of the ocean. He looked to Killer Bee, who seemed to be shocked by Madara’s words, but even more so by the reaction of his crew. The large man turned his eyes on Madara as they flamed with a new found anger, but he did not address Madara this time. Instead he addressed the majority. 

“Ah so this is how it is then, eh?” He spat on the deck, “This life doesn’t end in riches and women, you numskulls!“ He looked around at the men, who were avoiding eye contact with him. He threw his arms up in defeat, “Well fine, if you all want this pinecone man to be your new Captain, then do it! Don’t dance around it. Grab me and throw me into the jail and give him the command.”

With a cocky smile, Madara spoke again to the unsure crew, “Well, go get him! Drag him into the jail cell just like he asked.”

The crew looked at one another and Minato, who was standing next to Killer Bee and Kakashi, didn’t know what to do. He looked to Kakashi, whose face was unreadable to him, as perusal. Captain Killer Bee was the same. His eyes were cold as five people stepped forward and grabbed Killer Bee by his huge arms. The Captain moved willingly as they brought him down to the jail cell. 

A sense of helplessness overcame Minato as he saw everything went down and how fast it happened. Kakashi was still stone faced, not seeming to be phased at all. He cleared his throat before leaving behind Minato and going up to Madara. He couldn’t hear what he said but Madara’s eyes annoyingly flicked over to Minato and he nodded his head. 

“Minato,” He called out to him, “Go back down to the fish. Continue tending to him. Don’t come back up from there unless told so. Understand?” 

Minato couldn’t even respond before he witnessed Kakashi come back over to him and grab his arm, leading him back down to where Tobirama had been left. 

Entering back down into the cellar was a hard transition, especially since it now felt like he was being held captive along with Tobirama. Once they had stopped, he grabbed Kakashi by the arm when the man was about to leave again and pleadingly looked at a confused Yamato, who had been down with Tobirama the entire time. He had only heard muffled yelling and a commotion.

“Kakashi what the hell was that?”

The gray haired man sighed and looked at Yamato and then Minato, “Just keep to yourself and I’ll try to get this worked out…” His eyes glanced over to Tobirama. “And please try and keep him under control. Madara will do much worse if he doesn’t clean his act up.” 

With that, Yamato and Kakashi left the mermaid and blonde man together as they locked the door behind them. 

Minato’s hope to be down here alone with Tobirama came true… Just not in the way he expected. He had a feeling of whiplash due to everything that had happened in such a short amount of time. It made him feel sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the short chapter!!! more coming soon. xx

**Author's Note:**

> lmao this is my first fanfiction i have ever publicly published so uh yeah. don't judge a lot i guess? also i just gay mermaids and pirates. and i guess naruto.


End file.
